Men's Shorts Are Getting Shorter

Men—especially younger men—are
making like Bob Benson these days and, with increasing
frequency, opting for precariously short shorts come
summertime.

TheWall Street Journalreports—in
an account that no doubt caused some older gents to drop their
crumpets in their coffee, or whatever, in shock—that shorts are
getting shorter.

Over the past few years, the standard men's short length of
approximately 15 inches has dropped significantly—first to a
"knee-length" 11 inches, then a "knee-baring" 9
inches, then (bear with us) a
"quadriceps-exposing" 7 inches to, finally, a "newly fashionable
thigh-flaunting" 5 inches.

So what has caused this 10-inch drop? Well, there seems to be an
"if you've got it, flaunt it" mentality at play here, to a
certain extent, as one designer told the Journal,
"We spend too much time in the gym to hide under frumpy shorts
that say, 'I don't care how I look.'"

For others, aesthetic concerns are the driving force: "I just
don't like the longer lengths. They cut off your body in a
strange place," a different retailer said.

So does this mean you're going to start seeing bare male thigh
with the same frequency as ads for dermatologists on your morning
commute? Well, many brands—like J. Crew, Bonobos, and Club
Monaco—continue to offer shorts at many different lengths
(usually 11, 9, 7, and 5 inches).

So you can decide which length you feel comfortable with,
depending on how much you're feeling like David Beckham that day.
(The Bonobos vice president of design notes that the 5-inch pairs
are generally preferred by "men in their 20s who want an on-trend
look," while the 11-inch shorts "work for guys in their teens who
aren't up for very short.")